Foxe - The Book of Martyrs
The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.
The mystery of history is not completely dark, since it is a veil which only partially conceals the creative activity and spiritual forces and the operation of spiritual laws. It is commonplace to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church yet what we are asserting is simply that individual acts of spiritual decision bear social fruit …For the great cultural changes and historic revolutions that decide the fate of nations or the character of an age is the cumulative result of a number of spiritual decisions … the faith and insight, or the refusal and blindness, of individuals. No one can put his finger on the ultimate spiritual act that tilts the balance, and makes the external order of society assume a new form… Persecution, powerless to destroy or even to shake this new community, made it only the more sensible of its own strength, and pressed it into a more compact body.
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<strong>Foxe</strong>’s <strong>Book</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martyrs</strong><br />
hand, and a great Burden upon his Back.' After he had realised that Christ was his<br />
Righteousness, and that this did not depend on "the good frame <strong>of</strong> his Heart"-or, as we should<br />
say, on his feelings-"now did the Chains fall <strong>of</strong>f my legs indeed." His had been Doubting<br />
Castle and Sloughs <strong>of</strong> Despond, with much <strong>of</strong> the Valley <strong>of</strong> Humiliation and the Shadow <strong>of</strong><br />
Death. But, above all, it is a book <strong>of</strong> Victory. Once when he was leaving the doors <strong>of</strong> the<br />
courthouse where he himself had been defeated, he wrote: "As I was going forth <strong>of</strong> the doors,<br />
I had much ado to bear saying to them, that I carried the peace <strong>of</strong> God along with me." In his<br />
vision was ever the Celestial City, with all its bells ringing. He had fought Apollyon<br />
constantly, and <strong>of</strong>ten wounded, shamed and fallen, yet in the end "more than conqueror<br />
through Him that loved us."<br />
His book was at first received with much criticism from his Puritan friends, who saw in<br />
it only an addition to the worldly literature <strong>of</strong> his day, but there was not much then for Puritans<br />
to read, and it was not long before it was devoutly laid beside their Bibles and perused with<br />
gladness and with pr<strong>of</strong>it. It was perhaps two centuries later before literary critics began to<br />
realise that this story, so full <strong>of</strong> human reality and interest and so marvelously modeled upon<br />
the English <strong>of</strong> the King James translation <strong>of</strong> the Bible, is one <strong>of</strong> the glories <strong>of</strong> English<br />
literature. In his later years he wrote several other allegories, <strong>of</strong> which <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> them, "<strong>The</strong><br />
Holy War," it has been said that, "If the 'Pilgrim's Progress' had never been written it would<br />
be regarded as the finest allegory in the language."<br />
During the later years <strong>of</strong> his life, Bunyan remained in Bedford as a venerated local pastor<br />
and preacher. He was also a favourite speaker in the non-conformist pulpits <strong>of</strong> London. He<br />
became so national a leader and teacher that he was frequently called "Bishop Bunyan."<br />
In his helpful and unselfish personal life he was apostolic. His last illness was due to<br />
exposure upon a journey in which he was endeavoring to reconcile a father with his son. His<br />
end came on the third <strong>of</strong> August, 1688. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, a church yard in<br />
London.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no doubt but that the "Pilgrim's Progress" has been more helpful than any other<br />
book but the Bible. It was timely, for they were still burning martyrs in Vanity Fair while he<br />
was writing. It is enduring, for while it tells little <strong>of</strong> living the Christian life in the family and<br />
community, it does interpret that life so far as it is an expression <strong>of</strong> the solitary soul, in homely<br />
language. Bunyan indeed "showed how to build a princely throne on humble truth." He has<br />
been his own Greatheart, dauntless guide to pilgrims, to many.<br />
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